American Paint and Turret Mods.

By Fast Co., in Dust Tactics

I'm new to the forums and thought sharing a few pics might be fun. I play with theguildllc who has also posted a few pics, and many of the modified turrets I have made are thanks to the two of us swapping axis and allied models from the box sets.

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My walkers are all left the base primer from the box, with a drybrush of English Uniform (vallejo) / Snakebite Leather (Citadel) on the legs, lower thigh skirts and hip/knee pads, as well as the lower turret. In this early photo I have used English Uniform diluted with Future floor finish to give the recesses a dirty grime. In later photos I opted for a thinned black to pick out details instead. The chipping on the edges of the model are simply patches of German Grey (lightened Black) with a dark metal like Boltgun Metal added inside those patches to simulate wear and tear from cross country travel, weather and shell hits. I have added a heavy drybrush of flat black to the exhaust area of the back of the walkers as well as the round hip joint 'flywheel'. (those drybrushes are not yet painted in the above photos.)

Something else I did to the chassis was to widen the 'hip' joints, using 1/72nd scale tank wheels as spacers, perhaps 1/4 inch on each hip. (I say hip, though I mean the forward most joint of the leg, which in its crouched position looks more like a knee.) This gives the models a more dynamic stance.

All my troops are left primed green for armour and gloves, with coats and spats painted Khaki, pants English Uniform, and boots a darker brown. Over all of this I wash black ink diluted with Future floor finish, except for the flesh, which is instead English Uniform/Snakebite Leather diluted with the floor finish.

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The Pounder's canon barrel is fashioned after the real life Firefly barrel that some Shermans were fitted with, and while cool for its capabilities, I wanted a 'standard issue' looking barrel for my Pounder models, so I cut off the suppressor from each barrel. In the forground you can see my "Big Joe' figure I put together using a recon trooper.

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More aesthetic choices, here I have two Mickeys. I felt that the canon of the Mickey was a bit of a cop out as it's simply a hole where there should be a barrel. So using the suppressors from the ends of the Pounder barrels, I've given them a bit more length and I added recoil shocks fashioned from the mounting parts of the Steel Rain missile rack.

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Here I have deviated a bit further from the models as supplied. While I like the rules for the Steel Rain, I DESPISE the missile mounting system, however accurate it may be to contemporarily similar systems from real life. I was lucky enough to get two missile pods from theguildllc last time we played, and quickly put them to use. The other mech is a total fabrication from extra AA guns and a lot of free time. Should rules or models pop up in the future for AA mechs I'll be sure to use this model as a 'counts as'.

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Though I only have 4 chassis, I have made 8 turrets, giving me the option to field 4 Pounders if I like, or a more reasonable combination of other mechs. Note the lack of any Hot Dog turrets, again aesthetics have turned me away from this mech type, but I'll revisit the use of it when I can design something I can bear to look at.

Sweet. What do you use to seal your models after the paints dry? Dulcote?

Hey Arkangl, hows about a card for the AA walker?

that is awsome , love the AA mech

These are awesome. my email is on my blog just send me a photo of the walkers individually and I'll make some cards for them.

These are pretty nice

some of the coolest allies I've seen yet. Really like those standard issue cannons, might have to use that idea and its so simple!

I just use Citadel's Purity seal, very light coats, with at least a few minutes between dustings if I notice some gloss still in cracks, (btw the future floor finish is high gloss)

From the tip of the pounder's barrel, I cut the suppressor and barrel off at exactly 3/4 of an inch. Hope that helps with the barrels.

Certainly some, if not, the best I've sen so far.

Welcome to the group. These are very nice - a fantastic opening post!